Re: virus: Colours (splitting the spectrum)

Eric Boyd (6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca)
Mon, 19 Apr 1999 20:00:52 -0400

Hi,

Andreas Engström <engan@innovative.se> writes: <<
Is there any proof for some built-in preference in = our brains to make distinctions between separate colours at specific (as it seems, = rather arbitrary) wavelengths
>>

Well, I might be referencing the wrong book here, but I seem to remember that _Women, Fire and Dangerous Things_ (what cetegories reveal about the mind) had something to say about colours, and the language we use to describe them (is that right Eva?). If I remember correctly, George Lakoff was making a point about how, even though different cultures divide the spectrum differently, the same "examplar"[1] colours (those colours which are the "best" example of each colour category) are universal, and basically depend only on the physical hardware of our eyes.

ERiC

[1] "examplar" is not the word he used, he had a specialized term denoting that phenomena for categories. Damned if I can remember what that term was...